A couple of mods have mentioned having a rules thread for each of the major forums, and I think that would probably be wise. These rules can be bare bones and simple, but it would be good to have a thread laying them out nonetheless.

I think in the case of games these rules will be almost nonexistent, but I wanted to put it before you all as we put this together. I can't promise that all of your suggestions will be added, but we will keep them in mind as we put together the rules, and we will periodically solicit further input from you about what changes should be made to the rules. So... what rules do you guys think games should have? I've included a brief starter set below.

New games that have not yet started and are looking for players should be placed in the recruitment thread.

When the game is ready, the game's creator should contact one of the Games Moderators to move the thread back to the main forum.

Threads about how to create games, and other resources for new game masters should be posted in the Resources forum.

When a game ends, contact one of the Games Moderatorsto move it to the Completed Games forum.

Out of Character threads should be labeled with the OoC tag.

Of course all of these are up for change, just let me know if you think they need work.

Last edited by M0rtimer on Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:Changing to normal topic

I think #1 is a bit superflous, people can just create a recruitment thread in the subforum, and start a new thread in the Games forum once it starts. The reason one would do this instead of moving the original thread is because the first "n" posts/pages will be cluttered up by applications and player selection (and or rules/game discussion), not entirely relevant for the game itself (in case outsiders would want to follow it too).

Inventing forum games since '10 ...Skill Table Cheat Sheet for my players in the Minesweepers game.
Random dragons I help growing up: And my own dragons are here. The hatched ones like the clicks!

There is a lot more utility from leaving it in the recruitment forum (ie, someone needs to be replaced) and making a second thread for OOC. However, perhaps a rule that games not currently recruiting not have posts in the recruitment thread would be in order, with an appropriate title change to include "Closed" (force OOC into the regular portion). Also, most character creation, if in depth and not part of applying for spots, should probably go into said OOC thread (recommendation attached to the rule, not enforced).

Okay, does anyone have any other thoughts? I'd appreciate input from the people these rules will affect. Games moderators, please please please get to work on putting together a rules thread. I do not have time to do so myself, but I think it is important that we have something formal (no matter how short).

I guess a rule about commitment to the games would be worth mentioning? Since a ton of work goes into creating / GMing them, it's nice to remind players that if they miss updates then it sucks for the others & the GM. Similarly, if a GM can't keep an update schedule it screws with the players. Obviously this doesn't apply to people who have good reasons (and tell people, at least roughly what they are), but I think it's probably worth mentioning.

Similarly, it's also worth mentioning that running a game is HARD, so a bit of leniency towards the new GMs is never a bad thing

A pointer towards our extensive resources section & the God School stuff would be worth noting in the rules as well.

I haven't really experienced this, but if you aren't in a game but feel like commenting or something like that, use spoilers or the correct ooc thread to minimalize confusion for the GMs and players.
I would love the feedback or appreciation if people wrote it, but I could also see myself ending up confused temporarely if it was in the middle of the players action when updating.

I think the no-comments-from-lurkers things was largely established by LSN back in the early days, reinforced by a couple of other games and then it just stuck. I also think it's pretty good for the games threads to be left mostly for players only (especially if there's a risk of a non-player solving a puzzle, because if it's posted in spoilers it will definitely get read!). I will be the first to admit I get a very warm and fuzzy feeling when someone appears in a thread just to say they appreciate a joke or whatever though

Probably a general 'don't post in games you're not playing unless the GM says it's cool' would work though?

Sorry to revive a dead thread like this but since it is a discussion thread on rules I thought it might be okay.

Since quite a few games seem to use OoC threads why not create a separate sub-forum for those threads? It would cut down on clutter and make things look a bit more organized in my opinion. Or even take it a step farther and split the aforementioned sub-forum in half one for forum game OoC and one for outside game chat

At one point somewhere else I tried to suggest this and it was turned down as the OOC threads were as of yet, not overly inconvenient.

That being said, I will place my hat in the circle with you odd in support of this idea.

Another option (though im not sure of the intricacies of this) would be to somehow allow game creators to create an OOC thread within their gamethread in a separate but equal kind of way.

I'm thinking perhaps that, essentially, Games become their own subfolders...but would still be hanging out within the "Forum Games" area and not act as actual subfolders under the forum index. Again, I'm not sure how complex that is, but if doable, would be nice.

An example of the above is below
(main thread containing subthreads)

1. Goblins Adventure League (shows up in forum-games area, click to open options A and B)
A. The Tavern (A thread containing the GAL tavern)
B. Quests (a index containing options i and ii, click to open the Quests)
i. Q4
ii. Q5
etc

The GAL thread actually has an index already in the front post so that's permanently there. As quests are finished, they'll get moved to the completed area too, so I don't think they're likely to fill up the forum any time soon.

The problem with subdivisions is that people will always forget that they're there (like the recruitment thread for example). I can see the point of moving OOC threads somewhere, but hiding games within individual subfolders probably just means that no-one will read them any more because they'll have to click through an extra level to get there. We have so few active games at the moment I'm pretty loathe to make things even harder for people to find.

It was merely a suggestion, although a bad one as you pointed out. Though readership and play of games may increase if they (especially phone users) don't need to look so carefully through the options to make sure they click on the game as opposed to one of the OOC's.

Moving the OOCs would also free up space so that all (at least active) games would move to the top = less scrolling.

On an opposing side though, (myself not included) there are several people who only use the "View your Posts" tab to keep track of everything = those people tend to not see or read new games, as they're never posted in them.